Improvement in railway aiarms



e. DRAPER.

Railroad Signal.

No. 111,824. Patented Feb. '14. 1871.

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GEORGE DRAPER, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS.

' Letters Patent No. 111,824, dated February 14, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILWAY ALARMS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

To all persons'to whom these presents may come:

Be it known that I, G'nonen DRAPER, of Ho edale, of the county ofWorcester and State of Mas sachusetts, have invent-ed a new and usefulRailway Alarm or Signal Apparatus for a road, crossing, or other part ofa railway; and do hereby declare the same to be fully described in thefollowing specification and represented in the accompanying drawing, ofwhich-.-

Figure 1 is a top view;

Figure 2, a front elevation and Figure 3, a front-end elevation of it.

The object of the invention is to enable a moving carriage or trainofcarriages to sound an alarm to indicate, whether to a person in thecarriage or train at a distance therefrom, the position of such carriageor train or its approach.

In the drawing- A A' denote, the rails of a railway track, there beingarranged alongside of one of them a lever, B,

whose shorter arm is bent so as to extend through an opening in orunderneath one of the rails, and is provided with a projection or head,a, so arranged as to be impinged against and passed over byeither thetreads or the flanges of the wheels of oneside of a carriage or train ofcarriages while such may be in the act of passing the alarm apparatus. A

Each wheel, as it may roll over the said projection or head, is todepress it so as to t-ilt'the leveron its fulcrum l), which is to beprovided with a spring, 0, to impart to the lever a reversed motioninstantly after the passage of each wheel by the pro jcction.

From a post, 0, arranged near the outer end of the longer arm of thelever B an arbor, (l, is extended.

On the said arbor is a grooved wheel, c, provided with a ratchet, f, thetwo being fastened together and so applied to the arbor as to be capableof freely revolving on it.

There is also on thc'arbor a rocker-arm, 1), carrying a pawl, g, to acton the pcripcry of the ratchet.

An endless wire rope, E, is to go around the wheel 6, and another suchwheel, h, placed on an arbor, i projected from another post, F.

This wheel h I term the escapement-whecl, because it has a row of pins,It, extending at equal distances apart from its side, and arranged in acircle about the wheel.

They are intended to actuate the tail or lower arm of a lever-hammer, G,such hammer being pivoted upon another arbor, l, .aud furnished withaspriug, on, for forcing it againsta bell, H, extended iiom the post F.

A counter-spring, o, projecting from the post F serves to keep thehammer-head out of contact with the belt after each blow of the hammer,the same being in order that the bell may be free to vibrate withoutinterruption from the hammer.

If desirable, there maybe a row of pins fixed in the wheel c, and tosuch there may be a hammer and bell to operate like those hereiubeforedescribed, the hammerbeing furnished with a spring to force it againstthe bell.

In making my said alarm apparatus, I have eudeavored to devise one of apractical character; one not liable to derangement and capable ofoperating under usual atmospheric changes.

For this reason Iemploy anvendless wire rope to transfer the power fromthe wheel 0 to the escapement-whecl h.

It matters not how much such rope may sag or how long it may be, it willgenerally, by its weight, produce sufiicient friction to effect therotation of the the wheel h or transfer motion from the wheel 6 to suchwheel 72..

The longer arm of the tripping-lever Bis jointe to the rocker-arm I) bya connecting-rod or pitman, I, pivoted to the two.

From the above it will be seen that while a carriage or train of carsmay be passing over the head a of thcTtripping-lever B, such leverwillbe put in oscillation on its fulcrum in consequence of the wheels movingon and oil" the said head.

, This movement of the lever will create corresponding movements of therocker-arm, whereby an intermittent rotary motion will be imparted tothe ratchet and its wheel 0.

This motion, by means of the wire-rope endless belt, will be transferredto the escapeme'nt-wheel, whereby the alarm will be sounded, or thehammer be caused to repeatedly strike the hell.

I make no claim to the employment of a trippinglever, a bell, and anapparatus connected with the lever, and a hammer to the bell, and tooperate such hammer by the wheels of a carriage or train by successivelypassing over and depressing the lever, as I am aware ,that' there arevarious kinds of railway alarm apparatus having their general featuresbut which generally, owing to their peculiar or faulty construction, areliable soon to become deranged or get out of order, and have to suchextent that it is rare to meet with a good alarm apparatus of the kindin use.

What I claim as my invention is- My special railway-alarm apparatus, ascomposed of the lever B, its retractive spring 0, the connectingrod I,the rocker-arm D, the pawl g, the ratchet f, the grooverDwheel e, theendless wire-rope E, the escapement-wheel h, the hammer G, its springin, and the belt- 'H, all'arranged substantially in manner and tooperate as described.

Witnesses: GEORGE DRAPER.

- R. H. EDDY,

J. R. Snow.

ditlti time

